Pygopodidae

Pygopodidae
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Pygopodidae

Pygopus lepidopodus, from Brehms Tierleben, (1892)

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Scleroglossa
Infraorder:	Gekkota
Family:	Pygopodidae

The Pygopodidae', or flap-foots, are a family of legless lizards related to the geckos. They have unusually long, slender, bodies, giving them a strong resemblance to snakes. Like both snakes and most geckos, they have no eyelids, but unlike snakes, they have external ear-holes and flat, non-forked tongues^[1]. They are native to Australia and New Guinea.

Flap-foots have no fore-limbs at all, but they do possess vestigial hind limbs in the form of small, flattened, flaps^[1]. These may have some role in courtship and defensive behaviour, and may even aid in locomotion through vegetation. Some species are insectivorous burrowing animals, but others are adapted to moving through dense spinifex or other vegetation. Flap-foots lay two eggs in each clutch^[1].

Classification

FAMILY PYGOPODIDAE

Subfamily Pygopodinae
- Genus Paradelma
- Genus Pygopus
- Genus Delma

Subfamily Lialisinae
- Tribus Lialisini
  - Genus Lialis
- Tribus Aprasiaini
  - Subtribus Pletholaxini
    - Genus Pletholax
  - Subtribus Aprasiaini
    - Genus Ophidiocephalus
    - Genus Aprasia

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Bauer, Aaron M. (1998). in Cogger, H.G. & Zweifel, R.G.: Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. San Diego: Academic Press, 150-152. ISBN 0-12-178560-2.

Classification

References

See also